iOS

Jailbreak

Cydia

Apple has started censoring the word “jailbreak” in the US iTunes Store. Seriously, go search for any song or album with “jailbreak” in the title and it will come up “j*******k.”

Notable iOS hacker @planetbeing made the jailbreak censoring observation last night. However, Apple appears to be only censoring the use of the word jailbreak in the US iTunes store. Additionally, not every instance is censored. Thin Lizzy’s classic record Jailbreak has its title censored for the new deluxe edition, but the album’s description contains the word “Jailbreak” uncensored. Also, older versions of the record aren’t censored in any way.

Other notable/hilarious examples of censorship include an episode of The Roy Rogers show and an episode of the Real World. For those not familiar with The Roy Rogers show, it was a harmless western themed comedy. Definitely worthy of Apple’s censorship.

Apple’s aversion to the jailbreaking community is well documented. The constant push and pull between the hacking community and Apple is as rewarding for jailbreakers as it is enthralling. But, censoring a harmless word regardless of its context is ludicrous. Censoring the word jailbreak even in the context of “hacking” is reprehensible.

I guess this means the iOS Hackers Handbook won’t be available in iBooks anytime soon.

I knew that would catch a moderators eye real quick... I would actually like that better than the "What's a Jailbreak" on my profile... I can't handle a stock iPhone... I love the jailbreak movement...